Shen Yun Performing Arts received high compliments for its performances in Florence, Italy on April 9 and 10.
“I believe it’s an extraordinary show to recommend,” said Communications Director Maria Cruciata.
“It’s many arts put together but it’s not just that you see a performance of talented artists who dance skillfully, but there’s also the live music and then this connection with multimedia that makes everything very enjoyable,” she said.
Alfredo Esposito, chief of staff for the city of Florence, said the show was “really extraordinary.”
“I have to compliment the production and all the artists because of the colors, the music, the dance, and the scenography, I have to say it’s a very high-level show,” he said.
Michael Unger, founder of a medical technology company said “there are no words.”
He said “it’s like saying I saw the infinity.”
He also called the performance “exceptional.”
“It’s the first time I watched it, and it won’t be the last one,” he said.
Andrea Garbellini, an engineer and partner at Lean Manufacturing thought it was “a very interesting way to represent a part of Chinese culture.”
He said he hopes it’s “the culture of the future.”
“It’s definitely innovative in its attention to people, freedoms, and values and you can feel that very strongly,” he added.
Elisa Calistri, an accountant, said “It was exciting from both a beautiful point of view and an artistic aspect.”
She said “the message gave depth to the whole show. It really gave another value, something more.”
Shen Yun’s performances bring audiences China’s true, spiritual culture–a culture that cherishes traditional values like truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Audience members reflected on these values and the importance of the divine.
Pianist and teacher Luca Innocenti was touched.
“One should try a little bit to really understand the true meaning of life,” he said.
As a musician, he understands that music “may be one of the very few arts left that can touch the transcendent, or whatever God there may be in this world.”
Adele Pellegrini, a physician, said those who have faith share these same values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
“Even those who don’t have faith are good people of spirit; they are always compassionate.”
Ms. Cruciata said people should all spread these values.
“These values are universal principles that should always inspire our daily lives,” she said.
Andrea Calistri, CEO of Sapaf Leather Goods, said the performance clearly showed these values.
“The three values are very well expressed and they are so important in a society that is losing many values instead of trying to maintain [them], so it has generated emotion in me,” he said.
Audience members appreciated Shen Yun’s ability to seamlessly sync traditional Chinese dance to the live orchestral music. They also understood the deeper meanings behind vocal performances about the divine.
“I have to say the singing of the tenor with the music of the piano was really special,” said Mr. Esposito.
“It becomes really a fairy tale,” he said, “a fairy tale that mixes with the other pieces which are battles that really make the spectator immerse in the values of this great show.”
Mr. Calistri liked the movements of the dancers.
“I watched very carefully the movements, the postures, something really special,” he said.
“It’s not just a show,” he said, “It’s culture within the show with just the desire, the strength of wanting to maintain important relationships between 5,000 years of history and our future.”
Leonardo Longo, a medical director at the Institute of Laser Medicine at Firenze, said the artistic level and technical level was “very high.”
“You can see that they are professionals, everyone from the dancers, to the choreographers, to everyone who built this show,” he said, “Behind the scenes, there must have been a tremendous amount of work, nothing left to chance.”
Shen Yun performs next in Milan and Torino and other cities in France and Germany.
Mr. Innocenti congratulated the performers.
“Continue in this direction because it is the right direction in my opinion,” he said.
NTD News, Florence, Italy
